throne; where all who came would he.Te to may therefore infer that the appearaooe of J)Q88 by, it may, fitly typify the we.tars of the "living beinga_" illl:plied the prcaence .Baptism, passed by all Christians; and ihe of some order of bemgs m attendance upon figure would be aptly suggested to St. John God, the worken of his will, and the mani• by f.11e furuiture of the temple to whioh he fesiation of his glory. Age.in, the term has s1rnh constant e.11118ions. And in the used ((ciiA) and the characteristics of the llllidat of. the tl)rone, and round about the appearance naturally and almost irresistibly throne. Thill nie.y mean either (1) that;the lead us to interprllt the form llll one sym- throne being reete.ugular, the foli? Jiving · bolical of life. 'l'he hwnan face, the ox BI beinga were in the middle of each aide of the repl'888ntative of domestic, and the lion the pe.rallelogram: or (2) while one was of wild animals, and the eagle among birds, in front of the throne, the other three formed appear to be typical of the four most con- a aemicircle round it, one being directly spicuous orders of animal life. The oease- behind, and two towards the ends. Were less movements described in ver. 8 portray fourbeuta; or,/our li-1Jing creatvnr, (Revised the same idea. The fOlll' living beings draw Version); or, better still, /ov.r Umng 'being• attention to the W088 heaped upon created ((owct). The ''baa.at" (9-iipfuv)of cli. vi. 7; ·xi. 7, life ( oh. vi. S). The "!lei denote never- .te., must not be confounded with the '' living resting activity. We may therefore believe •onea" ofthi.11 ~ The one qualityoon- that the living beings- 11re symbolical of noted by the tftrm here naed is the posseBBion all creation fnlfilling its proper office-- of life. The question of the precise meaning waiting upon God, (ulfilling his will, and and interpretation of the Tiaion of " the aetting forth his glory. It is noteworthy · Ji ring beings" is a difficult one; arid much that the human face, u distinct from. the has been written concerning it. The viaion Cbnroh, which is represented by the four is evidently connected with the appearances and twenty elden, appears to indicate the described in Isa. vi. and Ezek. i. and x., and power of God to 11118, for his purposes a11d which are called in Isaiah "seraphim," in his glory, that part of mankind. which baa Ezekiel "cherubim." Weare led, therefore, not been received into the Church-the to inquire what mental ideas were pictlued part whioh constitutes the "other sheep; Mt to the Jews under the symbolical forms of of this fold" (John L 16). These repre- eherubim and semphim. Cheyqe shows sentatives of created life worship God, and (' Prophecies of Isaiah,' vol. ii. p. 272) that give (ver. 11), as a reason for ascribing glor, !be lllllD8 cllerub is probably connected with and honour to hirn, the ciroumatanoe that kirubu, the winged ox-god of the Assyriallll, "thou didst create all things, and because and with~. the vulture or eagle {of. of thy will they were. and were created.• the -,pfhrn, the guardians of the treasures of The following are other interpretations: (1) the _god.a); and he infers that among heathen The living beings represent the fo~ Gospela. nations the mythic cherubim denote the Thie view is held by many ancient writen. cloud-masses which appear to guard the though there are many variations in a11Biga. portals of the sky,and on whieh the sun- ing to ea.oh Go11pel its own representativ~ god issues at break of day. With regard to the "81'8Phim, he compares the name of the St. Matthew, who sets forth prominently tleryserpents(s'rti.fim) of Numb. xxi. 6, and human nature of our Lord; the kingly liGll * Victorin.us considers the man to be a type C,
concludes that the term was symbolical of is referred to St. Mark ; the sacrificial Gif the lightning, the weapon of the gods. to St. Luke; the aspiring 8/Jgle to St. Joh, Now, in Old T0Btament p888Bges the clieru- Amongst the supporters of this interpreta- bim and seraphim are always pictured tion (though varying in the precise applica, as the attendants.of God, and the workers bility) are St. Augustine, St. Jerome, Sl of his purposes and judgments-an idea Athanasins, & Irenmus, Sc. Gregory, St, which. IDllY readily h&ve been assimilated Ambrose, Andreas, Primasius, Bede, I. by the Jews from the conceptions of their Willie.ms, Wordsworth .(for a full e:r. heathen neighbouril. Thus oherubim with position of this view, see Wordsworth, 111, the flamini sword are placed at the entrance loo.). (2) The four great apostles: SL ofthegardenofEden(Gen.ili. 24); Jehovah Peter, the lion: James the brother of the rode upon a cherub, and did fly (2 Sam. xxii. Lord, the ox; St. Matthew, the man; SL 11 : Ps. xviil. 10); he oommunes with his Paul, the eagle (Grotins). (3) The Ohuroh people from 'between the cherubim (Exod. of the New Testament; as the Church Qt ::nv. 22); he is the Shepherd of I,rael, who the Old Testament was repreaented by dwells between the cherubim (Ps. hxx. l); the 1ttandards of four tribes (see Numb. ii.), ibe temple in Ezek. xii. 18 is adorned with on which these devi00B were emblazoned cherubim, as being the dwelling-place of according to tradition (Mede). (4) The God; they are the attendants of the glory of four patriarohal Churches : the IMl'I, Alex- God in Ezek. i. 22--28; and the seraphim andria, famed for learning; tAe litm, Jerusa- $1 n analogous poaition (Isa. Yi. 2). · We lem, "propter coomantiam" {Acts v. 20).;
' CDL tv. 1-11.] THE REVELA.TIOJ!t OJ' ST; JOHN. THE DJVINE. 147